Grow Awareness or Increase Engagement

These two terms really illustrate the progress I have made with respect to social media since 2009.

When I started in 2009, I was all about engagement. That was the new term for connecting on Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed and Linkedin. I tried conecting with people by joining chats, discussions and building my follower counts.

It was a great way to learn the ins and outs of these platforms.

Then, in 2011, I found myself changing directions. I did not have time to engage with everyone. I needed to find a new way to connect and increase brand awareness.

From here, I made a new discovery. I wanted to increase my brand awareness by focusing on content and I wanted to connect with a smaller, select group and engage at a deeper level wiith the right people.

In conclusion, you as a marketer must go through this process and determine for yourself what your objectives are with respect to promoting brand awareness and engaging with people. I look at it like a live networking event. I try to find out ahead of time who is attending the event and I try to get some face time with the right people. I do not try to connnect or engage with all attendees, and at the same time I do not try to push for the sale. Its all about relationships with the right people and ultimately that will determine how much engagement and communicating of brand awareness is necessary. It’s true for live networking events as well as social media platforms.

What do you think about these terms? How is the process of engaging and brand awarenesss changing for you with respect to social media channels.